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I'd fancy the former, leg 3, as it ends in Wells Next the sea - old family holiday memories.

Must make even the Green Belt relay look a doss of an organisational job.

Even at Endure, where legs were only 5miles, you ended up hanging about for 5-10mins at times

Imagine awaiting someone doing 19.6miles, and unsure if they're gunning it, or are struggling in! Could be any sort of time differential!

Well that sort of happened to me, twice SG.

My first run at the RNR involved my own military precision on a start time based on the predictions, only to find that the time of arrival at my change over had morphed into the starting time of the leg before mine.

Well that was a 20 miler for that guy who (a 70 minute HM man) had bitten off more than he could chew. He hit the wall like a ton of bricks and ended averaging about 7:30's. He handed over the baton (yes we carry one) looking like death and collapsed in the street.

Meanwhile I had got so hungry waiting, that I'd eaten all my food (yes, those!) about 10 minutes earlier.

Subsequently, I ran the best feeling distance run of my life. Felt like I was sprinting the whole way. How the average was deemed to be only 6:03's was a puzzle. I reckon the distance was longer than advertised.Actually, the guy on the previous leg (he lived) said it was half a mile further than stated.

Usually one knows where the runners are during the event, but now again someone goes awol.

Happened to me as well. Best laid plans and all that. Was a bit surprised when our man arrived when it was assumed by 'management', he was still miles away (whats app has that solved now)

Cost me time, but to be fair to the team organising the deal. They had a lot to contend with. All I had to do was run.

Should be ok this year. Yesterday I ran near 13 miles starting around 6:00am, did a garden job, then went out on the bike for 70 odd minutes at a decent pace. I had 19.2 mph average on the Garmin with an average HR of only 139 bpm. Then back to work. Finished with a beer at 3:30 pm

Misread that last bit as you doing 13miles at 6min miling for a second Ric! But tidy miles for sure. I suppose the toughest gig in that relay is the guy who has to cycle/drive alongside runners at night.

On another note, obviously after I mentioned how we wouldn't look forward to the wet ones of the winter, today was...a wet one!But still blooming humid - so even though it was cooler than its been I had to ditch the vest about 2miles in, and even the heavy rain in the last 2miles didn't tempt me to put it back on.

8miles. That'll do today. All a bit sapping this last few weeks. Weather wise rather than me falling apart. Hopefully.

Misread that last bit as you doing 13miles at 6min miling for a second Ric! But tidy miles for sure. I suppose the toughest gig in that relay is the guy who has to cycle/drive alongside runners at night.

On another note, obviously after I mentioned how we wouldn't look forward to the wet ones of the winter, today was...a wet one!But still blooming humid - so even though it was cooler than its been I had to ditch the vest about 2miles in, and even the heavy rain in the last 2miles didn't tempt me to put it back on.

8miles. That'll do today. All a bit sapping this last few weeks. Weather wise rather than me falling apart. Hopefully.

In that first RNR, SG, the guys in the following car said it was well entertaining for them as they had the novelty of overtaking other teams on the road. It had never happened before to them.

Operating along unlit roads in the dead of night. The only light source is the headlights of the vehicle following the runner. The runner operates in a shadow of his own making unable to read the watch while up ahead, hedgehogs, rabbits and all sorts cross the road in the beams beyond.

The night shift can be a tough one. Grab sleep where you can.

Based on the forecast for Saturday. I think I'll attempt to get something done early tomorrow morning.

Shortest track sesh, but never hurts on a Friday after a long week.52x3, 53x2, 54. 2mins 30 rests. Session gives 2-3mins, but from experience 2mins is probs not long enough, but 3mins I think is too long!

Rest of the summer I'll probs do a few more miles and 5ks, then I suppose we best re-add the dreaded tempo session and look longer for Sep/Oct.But obviously once it stops being so darn humid. Tempos in this would be a thankless world of pain.

Good discipline Ric.I always think if I didn't need to work, I'd get up late. But I suppose just on days off, you find if you do that, then it's very easy to just put things off, or not be in the right frame of mind.

Now 53 for 300, for me feels fast. That's around 70 for a 400m.Yeah it's not flat out, and I expect I've averaged quicker than 53 before, but it's a ready to do a similar effort in 2mins + sort of effort, and only for a handful.

The guy at our club said a month ago he was doing 300s in FORTY TWO seconds a rep!Now Simon putting in 800s 10secs quicker than me is one thing (nice sesh), but 300s 11 seconds faster than me, when I'm already busting juice? That's just phenomenal speed. He was going for national/european/world type age records though.

However, it has put him on the bench, so I wonder if it was too hard!!

SG, I find it difficult to believe that I went and did what I did this morning (20 miles). The biggest issue was being dive bombed by large Gulls as I ran past the school on whose roof they were nesting.

It was a close call. Knowing the species (Herring Gull) I avoided the worst by keeping close to the trees. It wasn't being pecked on the head which was the main problem, it was the buggers trying to shit on me.

Matt - Great session on a lumpy route. Mile reps felt hard in the last couple of reps but I was still in control and not having to force the pace. Hope the GP race goes well!

SG - Well executed session, looks a strange one to me though for 5k training. Looks a lot of recovery for such a short rep, although I guess it’s good for a tune up if you are racing a mile on Monday! Embrace the humidity, it has excellent training effects!

Simon - Cracking 800s there. I’ve been looking at a pair of Hokas for easy run shoes, they just look so clunky though! I quite enjoy the long runs in the summer, I just take it as a free warm weather training camp!

Excellent Gul dodging Ric!

Yesterdays tempo was 6m split into 5 at MP and 1 at HMP. Buzzing to see 6.19 for the MP section and 6.04 for HMP. So just outside 2.45 pace, with 10 weeks to go until Berlin I’m starting to feel a bit more confident of my ambitious target

Sw - very tidy. Especially in summer! Just need to hold that sort of pace for 4 times the disto😱.

I suppose the sesh i did is more what these reallt short distance nutters do. Good for an occasional burn for sure and like you say works with the mile.

Just had a small scare with the mile relay. Seems no entry on the day and entries shut yesterday.However luckily our team member contacted them and it's one of these say it's shut to avoid everyone turning up on the day and we can still get in. Phew.

Those 400's look impressive SC from any angle. The nearest to that I ever got was doing 12 averaging 72 seconds needing 200 & 400m jog recovery. I broke 34 minutes for 10k off that, though I simply couldn't go any better on the track. 3:06 average 1000'm off six minute recoveries - same story.

I've avoided the drudge running myself SG. If I don't feel like going out I don't bother. Even with the biking, I'm inclined towards backing off.

My activity (training?) has currently morphed into a type of all or nothing pattern. However the 'all' has become better and easier, and the 'nothing' has become nothing to be concerned about.

Weather.

Looks like the temperatures up on the way up again. 30 C plus next week. What to do?

I keep hearing that when a heatwave is on, it's important to remain cool.

SG- Wrest Park is a lovely bit of grass near a stately home just off the A6. So we measured it with a garmin and the distance looked ok going by how I felt and the times were. Nice 10 miler today with my mate down to the kids cricket.

SG, I know how you feel, the humidity is killing me. Not a fan of the heat, even less so for humidity. Hope you enjoy your mile relay in the conditions!

SW, nice tempo - I guess it will be a main feature for your marathon build up?

SC, great session as usual!

Saturday evening was the next instalment of the Cornish Grand Prix - Magnificent 7, seven miles of hills (~220m total elevation) around the back lanes of Saltash, which along one stretch takes you alongside the St Germans River, which comes off the Tamar.Having done some sessions in the week, I wanted to give an honest effort but not go all out - I'm only trying to maximise points for the GP, but don't want to flog myself for it. Naturally, at the start of the race it's hard not to overdo it - up until a mile in I'm surrounded by people that I shouldn't be near. Not a good sign, but it meant I put a good stint in on the first and worst hill. I settled in to a sort of high tempo effort, cruising on the downs to recover and letting people sprint past, only to regain them on the following hill. Halfway seemed to take forever to come around, and the hills were starting to fatigue the legs, and I could feel a stitch coming on. Stopping at the next water station, having a few sips and dousing my head, the feeling soon left. When you reach 5.5 miles, your heart just drops as you've just finished the stretch along the river, and so it's 1.5 miles back to the top! On the way back up, I try to take a couple of places without going too hard, and then a couple more in a sprint to the line.

Happy to finish in 47:53, and in 34th, placing within the club team securing second place. Looking at the results, I was 24th Cornish, which will be my highest placing in the GP so far. Tidy!Also good to have a ~97s PB from when I ran it in 2015, the autumn of which I started to get some good results.

Followed the race up with 90 mins late morning on Sunday - but I hadn't rehydrated nearly enough, causing the second half to be a real slog.

SC - still don't know how you can do 4miles at your 1500 race pace! Are you cheating the manager in your races

Dashers session for comparison tonight, is 3 sets of 3x400m, with 2mins in between rep, and 6mins (!) between sets!

"Slightly quicker" than 5k pace.

Now, let's call my mile pace 5.00-5.02 for a 1.15 lap, could I go "slightly quicker". I did 8x400 averaging 1.14 last week off 2mins.

But with 6mins in between every 3? Sounds a bit piss doesn't it?! Having said that I dare say if I went, i'd do the first one in 68 and make the session "less piss"

Matt - is meant to be 25degrees that'll feel like 30 apparently. I suppose you wouldn't wanna be racing any further than a mile! But I suppose even if I meltdown, have a disaster it'll still be well under 5.30!

Nice one Matt. All your races sound a nightmare down your way. Let alone if the heat/humidity combo is as it is here.220feet though - shows our relay the other week isn't too much in the way of giggles, as it starts on grass, and has about a 120ft climb over a 1/3mile. One of the many reasons I don't like the course at all. But hey - it's a great chance of a pot!!

Temp certainly hits you when leaving the building. Phew. Even a walk drew a tonne of sweat.Seem to have picked a bit of a tight hip up. So the scene is certainly set for the excuse locker to be dipped into later

Good luck tonight SG! It certainly is warm, had to take our auditors on a tour of our site and I was sweating doing that! I do quite enjoy running in the heat though, just have to keep on top of hydration. Just the 4m recovery for me to do tonight

I had another race this weekend - just half an ironman this time.This was meant to be my 'chill period', but the way I'm seeing it, is 4 weeks off, with a half 'fun' race in the middle. My mates from school were doing it, so I got roped in as the 'triathlon guy.'

Ended up turning up feeling rather decent on the day. PB'd in the swim (1.9km - 31 minutes), coming out of the water in 4th, which was a really unusual situation for me! Swimming is definitely trending upwards at the moment, somethings just clicked.

Decided as the race was just for 'fun' rather than performance, that I'd take a risk and just basically try and hammer the bike until I got to the front of the race. Quickly got into 2nd, but had no idea how far ahead the lead guy was.

Ended up catching him at with 10 miles to go (56 mile bike), and decided to take a bit of a breather and assess the situation. Then got a bit of a gap (can thank a rogue lorry for that) and decided to just go for it, extending the lead to a minute by T2. (2:18 for the 56 mile bike - average speed ~ 25mph (260 watts for those who know the numbers)). Really pleased with the bike split as well, significant PB.

Coming off the bike, I knew I'd pushed hard, so decided to really try and reign it in and just see if the guy behind was going to close the gap - basically just do enough and not anything heroic. 3 out and back laps meant it was easy enough to see what the gap behind was. I ended up extending it to 3.5 minutes over the first 2 laps, but then things started to unravel and I went into survival mode.

The guy behind was closing slightly, but I was pretty sure he'd run out of road, and I ended up winning by about 2 minutes. Final run time was 1:27 for the half marathon, 4:18 overall time.

Didn't absolute destroy myself, so I think all in all it wasn't the most reckless thing to do. Couple of more weeks 'recovery', before building up towards Valencia mara in December.

Thanks for the positives on the 'cool' front guys. But I only have to look at that picture to realise that the ravages of time has done it's worst

8 miles early on today. Went well. Never felt hot, felt almost easy in fact but noted I was so drenched in sweat at the end, I might have well been swimming.

Actually, I never feel hot when running. The sign I get of getting too hot is just being slower. But the fact of being hot is brought home to me in a race when I pour a cup of water over my head. I notice then alright.

You never feel hot when running Ric? So how slow will you need to run on Thursday when it's a ridiculous 34 degrees feeling like 41!! That's insane.

SW - no heroics tonight. Will just enjoy a pressure free run out with two teammates, and revel with Joe a bit. A few hip flexor stretches have made things feel alright.

Have stopped the fluid 30mins before setting off, but then I thought i'd done that last time, and got within about 20 secs of "hosing the car from the inside".

We'll have a tonneload of time as the A race is 7.30, not the usual 7pm of the 5ks, so I guess the game is not to have ruined ourselves by loitering in the heat too much.Could do the B race, but then it's much better to have tonnes of people to chase on the powerhouse Leg 1, then be messing about near the front

Wondered where you were JB. I guess if the Eli Roth Ironman was as brutal as his films, no wonder!

That's about it SG, I've set pb's in two HM's when the temperature was like it was today. But quite often; like yesterday, I don't realise the heat until I've stopped moving. Wind chill if you like.

That said, I'm prepared to pour water all over my head when in race mode, where there's a lot of runners who couldn't cope with even the idea of doing that.

Mind you, there's a lot of runners who can't cope with sweating either or think that getting out of breath is some sort of affliction such as asthma or; if really on the hypochondria gold standard, a heart attack.

Takes all sorts I suppose. There's certainly enough operating at the other end of the scale of self preservation, even on this thread.

Makes me wonder sometimes if a regular 'self flagellationer', hasn't posted for a while, it's because, 'discovering what their limits are?, might not have been as open ended a question as they thought it was.

JB, great result on the 1/2 IM. 25mph 260 watts for 56 miles! That's going a lot. These days all I can do is take out Strava segements for those in my age group.

My old TT bike sits gathering dust. One day I'll put it back on the road.

Easy Ric - we've only just got back to an even keel after your last dig at people Do you ever wonder if it's the criticism you dish to certain posters that makes them less keen to post as much?

Like life you have to accept others have different motivations, aims and likes. You barely ever race for instance, which is fine, but the boat you're in is very different to some of the other guys, who have to risk the occasional break down to hit their times.

But enough downer - I have a race report, and for the first race for a while it was a goodun

Can't pretend I overly fancied this one. Super hot evening, bit off the pace this summer - before Endure, let alone after it. But it was a good little team trip, and when the difference between excellent and underwhelming is about 15 seconds, you really can't go too far wrong!

Decent scoot time off work, and easily there by 6ish. Easily signing up by the deadline of 6.30 - with the team name being the hardest thing to decide.We went for some totally pointless mind games of "Dashers F", bearing in mind we most likely wouldn't get in the top 20 teams.

Pleasing to see that they'd made the massive improvement of chip timing this year - excellent. While I was fairly confident on leg 1 of getting reported decently accurately, legs 2 and 3 could remove all doubt that they'd jumped the gun or anything this year.Similarly, it was less of a worry starting 3 lines back, having not got to the grid particularly quickly!

A banana consumed 2hr 30 before, and a slightly tight hip were my only concerns. I did weigh up what would happen if the hip went or something, would I still limp it back in to avoid ruining my pal's races

A warm up showed I'd be fine. Half mile in the normal shoes in the gang, and then better mile in the Vapors. Felt good storming around. Wetted the hair in the mirror in the mirror, felt handsome too (ED - is this necessary?)

Somewhere amongst this the big boy - Joe B showed up, sounding way more geezer than I'd remembered Looking part of an even more sickeningly attractive couple than I'd remembered as well.

He was off to watch the B race, which started at 7ish, with ours up at 7.30.I'll find him after I thought.

Front lads of the B race stormed off, and I must check their times later. If they were fast you have to ask why you'd go in the B event.

Wandered about for a bit, and tried to ignore a few B racers saying how it was "FFFFing horrible" and "hard work" out there in the heat

Time soon rolled round to us, and after firstly walking past the start line, and 50metres down the course like a clown, I nestled at the sideline, about 3 rows back - weighing up how awkward a start this would be.

Good little atmosphere generated by the tonne of people watching, and almost time.

OFF WE GO.Set off decently, but not full beans. I had about 5 women ahead, and I wondered what I'd stumbled into. Was this some elite women's meet? Were they overdoing it? Or was I underdoing it?

Gave it a mic check at about quarter mile, I'm tracking 4.45 pace.For one second I thought it was like when you're on the track and it overreports pace by about 15secs, but no it's legit.That's probably perfect. Not animal, but sharper out then you'll sustain later.

From quarter of a mile to 1/3mile I started over taking all the over enthusiastic women, who were slightly tailing off.

The beauty of this course, is that there's a very definite half way point at a roundabout. Different way round than last year, but not much odds.

Round the roundabout, and off it - quick pace check, 5.00 dead.Checked it again a little on, and still on 5.00.

It felt good. I thought I can definitely hold this, and have a crack at sub 5 if it's on.

Just get to the end of the carpark I think, and that's quarter mile to go, and the clock in sight.

Found an extra pace from there, and ignored some guy on my right utterly machine gunning past me! Just what the heck.

Put maximum beans on for the last few hundred metres, to take some kid late doors, and storm over the....four mats.

No idea where I actually took my finish split, but I'd started slightly behind the mat at the start.

WELL under 5.My watch had something like 4.55.60, but again - I'd started behind the first mat...was that half a sec, over a sec? Time would tell. Garmin has me as recording the full 1.00 at "4.54 pace", and had given me 4.55....

I suddenly had half a chance of an actual outright pb!

With 4.56 at Gosport, and 4.57 here last year, I'd actually competed with those, despite only a 2x5.03 at Ealing this year.

The chaps came in with good times too....confirmed as 5.20 and 5.25, both pbs, so it was down to mine.

We actually hung about later for the prize giving, and I was very encouraged to hear that the first woman had done 4.56

Checked with her that she'd been in the A race and leg 1, and yes, and her guy had her finishing footage.I was in it - ahead

Hopes of a 4.55 rose, until my pal reminded about the chip time, so she "MAY" have started behind me.BUT, there were 4-5 ahead of me, so I was pretty sure she hadn't.